Below is a partial list of Larry's, mcckoy4u2, contribution to Shawnee Pottery's gold and decorated pieces. Maybe you think "why should I care", well, there will be a time when this junk will start coming back on the market. Only next time with a different seller ID, possibly with one the ID's below. Or maybe with a new ID, so if you have your doubts about a piece it would be a good idea to check the Ebay user ID history of the seller. This junk is going to affect the value of the gold trimmed pieces in all of our collections as people become afraid to buy it.

Newsletter notification email

At the risk of getting grief from my Internet provider I'm going to run a notification email each month when the newsletter is published.

Wondering how many readers were watching Mcckoy4U2 auction for the solid gold Smiley?????? Doug and I feel Larry just wants to show us that he doesn't give a hoot about our blasting of his shenanigans in the newsletter and on the web site. So many people are incited by his antics yet some fool paid an exorbitant price of $1476......... and Larry McKinley still has 100% positive feedback which shows all of us how Ebay's feedback system really doesn't indicate security for any of us. Takes a lot of the fun out of collecting with jerks like this doctoring gold decoration and decals on our beloved pottery. This crap gets mixed in with a good collection and it is BUYER BEWARE even with "reputable" collectors selling off pieces. Saddens me that genuine quality Shawnee pieces are passed over for items like this which will just encourage McKinley to continue. McCoy collectors are upset over this as well but to date have had no success in preventing this fraud. I suppose there is a slight chance of him having something legitimate - the only possibility of this piece being legit is the Le Mieux marking but my gold Smiley did not have that nor do the majority of decorated items - I have only seen a couple of Bo Peeps marked with it, chanticleer, sunflower teapot - I have no idea if that could be replicated or not. ( Lin & I haven't discuss the stamp thing specifically, but there are a number of custom rubber stamp makers around. A check in Pam's book didn't show the mcckoy4u2 Le Mieux mark. Doug)

Larry's mark, the book mark has "24 Carat Gold" inside the wreath.

Larry's platinum Sun Flower teapot mark.

On the FUN side of collecting a friend emailed me pictures of some finds they had this summer. Interesting piece I have never seen is a large arrowhead ash tray that is so similar in many ways to the small arrowhead of Shawnee. A great go with piece even if not Shawnee - many experimental pieces so always a chance.

Pictures show the difference in size. It is very heavy. It measures 10.75" x 7.25". It's about 1.24 inches deep - then we were talking to another dealer we know and he thought he had one at home, they're the same except his is brown. We'll see them again in September and he said he'd bring his

along. He only bought his because of the Indian on it.

We found these 3 Smiley S & P's and the Winnie Cookie jar a few weeks ago. Yes, the Winnie is a Blueberry jar - never thought we'd own one! The peach Smiley's are really nice, too. We don't see too many of them around. Ok, actually, these are the only ones we've ever seen!

Also this email question for any of our readers - Have any of you seen pieces like this that may be Shawnee???

We have questions about this bird. We found him at the same time we found the Smiley's and the Winnie cookie jar.

These came from a lady who has a lot of Shawnee. (We've only seen pictures.) Anyway, this looks a lot like a bird in Pam's book, but it's kinda hard to tell. See the slit in the bottom of him - he will sit on a thin glass or pot. In the book Pam doesn't say anything about this. From wing tip to wing tip he measures about 3.25" and from beak to the tail about 2.5".

Do you think this is Shawnee? My response was based on what appears to be dark pottery but may be staining from years of us but I didn't feel it was Shawnee though it certainly resembles a lot of the miniatures and animal pieces.

I just returned from a road trip to Nevada and southern Utah - actually passed by some antique shops as time was limited and I wanted to enjoy Zion and Bryce - one of my favorite areas - glorious scenery and it was actually COOL - a nice respite from Arizona's brutal heat.

Another collector friend was so thoughtful to send me a copy of Elvin Culp's obituary - I mentioned last month he had passed away - he was the owner of Clara Belle's in Zanesville and such a wealth of information on pottery.

An excerpt from the obituary

"He was an avid lover and collector of antiques. He and his wife were owners and operators of Clara Belle Antiques until they retired in February 2010.

He was considered as the "Walking pottery Encyclopedia" in an article published in the New York Times."

I met him 25 years ago when I attended my first Pottery Festival - his shop was so impressive - I was there with Joy and Paul Schneider browsing when I heard a familiar voice asking if she knew me when he heard her mention Shawnee - at that time I knew so many people via phone calls but met so many long time collector friends on that first trip - , Jim and Bev Mangus, Jim and Bev Novonglosky, Mary and Cecil Rapp, Mel and Jean Gibson, Ron and Connie Brown, Duane and Janice Vanderbilt - just to name a few that you will recognize from the early days and the books about Shawnee. Those were the days when we were all so obsessed - before cell phones and our bills were $200-$300 a month chasing this pottery and developing friendships!!! I have to give credit to Pam Curran for bringing all of us together via her newsletter! So many memories!